This invention relates to a character and picture reading device for converting the optical data of characters and pictures into electrical signals.
Heretofore, a device of this type has been employed as the reading section of a facsimile or the like. In a facsimile device, while sheets on which characters and picture data are provided are conveyed, the data on only one side of each sheet is read.
Accordingly, in reading sheets wherein characters and picture data are provided on both sides, or in reading a book whose leaves include such data on both sides, the conventional character and picture reading device reads only one side thereof. Therefore, the data reading time of the conventional device is relatively long, if both sides of the sheets are to be read.